Ayiiia declined Real World producers’ offer for on-camera cutting help

Occasionally, The Real World attempts to balance its hedonism with a serious moment, and that happened Wednesday, when Ayiiia, the cast member described by MTV as “a reformed party girl with a history of drug abuse and cutting,” was shown cutting herself.

After Ayiiia came home drunk and a naked CJ was interrupted humping a clothed girl, naked CJ and later Joey yelled at her (watch the uncensored fight and just try to make sense of their drunken nonsense), which led Ayiiia to cut herself in the bathroom, which Joey later made fun of after Emilee told everyone, but the two guys still didn’t believe she had a problem even when appearing on the After Show, because everyone involved with this show is a complete ass. And I still don’t wonder why I just cannot watch this crap any more.

In an interview with Fancast, Ayiiia said the producers offered help but she declined, and it seems like that’s because her therapy would have been filmed. “MTV pulled me aside and they asked me if I needed help. They suggested I see a therapist and were willing to talk to me about my problem. Throughout the whole thing, I just didn’t feel comfortable having to talk to a therapist about it, because I was being filmed. It wasn’t as personal as I would have liked. People might be like, ‘oh she needed help, she didn’t get help,’ but it was so personal and it would have taken time. I kind of just set it aside and dealt with my emotions in a very healthy way. I kind of just needed to deal with it by myself,” she said.

Although that sounds irresponsible on her part–and on MTV/the producers’ for not offering assistance that wouldn’t also benefit their show, if indeed the therapy sessions would have been filmed–she hasn’t cut herself since, telling Access Hollywood, “I haven’t relapsed whatsoever. I’m just not put in those situations. I definitely know what to do if I am put in those situations, and I definitely try to let it out in a different way.”

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Andy Dehnart is a journalist who has covered reality television for more than 15 years and created reality blurred in 2000. A member of the Television Critics Association, his writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Playboy, Buzzfeed, and many other publications. Andy, 37, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. More about reality blurred and Andy.

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